Joint NGO Statement on the Handover of the Report of the Commission
of Truth and Friendship

July 15, 2008

This week the report of the bilateral Commission of Truth and Friendship
(CTF) will be handed over to the presidents of Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The
report concludes that crimes against humanity took place for which militia
groups and the Indonesian military, police and civilian government bear
institutional responsibility. The report should be made public as soon as
possible, and must not be the end of efforts to assign responsibility for
violence in 1999 and before.

While Indonesia bears most of the responsibility to respond to the challenges
posed by the report, both countries and the international community must work
together to ensure individual accountability for the past, and reform of these
institutions in the future.

The Commission was formed by the two governments to "establish the conclusive
truth" about the events of 1999 "with a view to further promoting reconciliation
and friendship." In 1999 militias created, trained, and directed by the
Indonesian military carried out a terror campaign that left more than 1,400
dead, hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced, and much of the territory's
infrastructure destroyed. According to available information, the report has
found that Indonesian security forces often directly participated in the
violence.

Flaws in the Commission documented by our own groups and others include: a
mandate that put a priority on rehabilitating the names of accused perpetrators
over justice or compensation for victims; prohibitions on assigning individual
responsibility or on recommending prosecutions or creation of judicial bodies;
inadequate witness protection; and a narrow focus on events in 1999.

As a result, despite the intent of the two nations to find "definitive closure,"
and a report that contributes to a better understanding of the violence, the
Commission cannot be the last word on responsibility for past human rights
violations in Timor-Leste. The body is by design inadequate for the task of
identifying the truth or obtaining closure in any meaningful sense of the word.

However, despite its limitations, commissioners from both countries made an
effort to sift through the information and produce meaningful conclusions.
Notably, the Commission did not exercise its power to recommend amnesties for
any individuals. The Commission has found that the Indonesian military, as an
institution, was responsible for crimes against humanity. This finding leads our
organizations to two inescapable conclusions:

An institution that was responsible for crimes against humanity remains a
powerful and largely unreformed force within Indonesia. Despite a few
important steps following the fall of President Soeharto, such as the separation
of the police from the military and the loss of automatic seats in parliament,
the military has made little progress in accepting civilian control, divesting
of its massive empire of legal and illegal businesses, or holding its members
accountable for human rights violations.
A further judicial mechanism is needed to assign individual responsibility for
those crimes. Individual responsibility is a fundamental principle of
international criminal law and an essential aspect of reconciliation. Some of
those implicated in the violence maintain positions of influence in Indonesia,
either within the military or as retired civilians active in politics.

It is also important to note that just as the Commission must not be the last
word, neither was it the first. A 2000 report by an investigative team from
Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission identified serious violations and
recommended investigation of numerous civilian and military officials.
Timor-Leste's Commission of Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) produced
a comprehensive 2,000 page report with recommendations on accountability and
reparations that have been largely unimplemented. The U.N.-backed Serious Crimes
Unit in Dili indicted numerous individuals for prosecution, most of whom remain
at large in Indonesia. A U.N. Commission of Experts found that Indonesia's
efforts at accountability, the Jakarta ad hoc tribunals, were "manifestly
inadequate." The only defendant serving time for a conviction in those trials,
militia leader Eurico Gutteres was recently acquitted on appeal. The CTF report
notes serious shortcomings of the Jakarta trials.

Both the U.N. Commission of Experts and the CAVR urged that an international
tribunal be formed if Indonesia did not promptly act to hold the perpetrators
accountable. It is possible that the findings of the Commission of Truth and
Friendship will spur further prosecutions in Indonesia, ideally in conjunction
with the international community to ensure both credibility and resources.
However, Indonesia's record in this area is clear, and it is highly unlikely
that the Indonesian government will act without clear signals from the
international community that an international tribunal remains a credible
option.

Those who committed crimes against humanity throughout Indonesia's invasion and
occupation of Timor-Leste must be identified and prosecuted, for the sake of
justice for past victims in Timor-Leste and for a future in which human
rights are respected in Indonesia. The international community and the
government of Timor-Leste must play a role in ensuring both prosecutions and
reparations to victims. As recommended by the Commission, Indonesia must
comprehensively reform its armed forces.

If Indonesia truly wants closure and full acceptance by the international
community as a rights-respecting nation, there is no alternative but an end to
impunity through individual as well as institutional accountability.Association HAK (Timor-Leste)

Australian Coalition for Transitional Justice in East Timor

East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (U.S.)

Human Rights First (U.S.)

International Center for Transitional Justice

The Commission for the Disappeared and the Victims of Violence (Kontras)
(Indonesia)